“Yes. That is kind of why we’ve done this. Now, all of a sudden, me and Kromer are together on the sideline. (We will go over) some game day procedures, talking to the officials beforehand, going over the procedure for a replay review, going over some procedures postgame when you get the injuries and you have to talk to the media, things like that so he can start to set the routine of practice. That is why Mickey chose to make the announcement now, so we’d have two full games together.”

Will you be sad to cede those media responsibilities?

“Yes, it is going to make me sick.”

Did you give him any pointers on how to deal with us?

“I am a bad teacher. I am the wrong guy,”

How much pressure do you think he will be under once the regular season comes along?

“Aaron is like me and Aaron is like Sean, this is all he has ever done. If somebody is going to come in here and ask Aaron to do open-heart surgery next door, he is going to get nervous. He doesn’t know how to hold a scalpel, or fly an airplane. He, like myself, is very comfortable with our players, we are comfortable with the process that takes place here, very comfortable with the way our install goes and how we segment our practices every week. Is there going to be added pressure not to let people down? Sure. Listen, you embrace some of those things.”

Opening Statement: “I would just like to start off by saying (that) it’s an honor to me that Mr. (Tom) Benson and Mickey Loomis feel good about me filling in for Sean (Payton) and Joe (Vitt) at this time. (With) A six-game run here in the beginning, it is important to start fast. We will do the same things that Sean Payton has done over the years. We will follow the same program. The coaches on this staff, with Pete Carmichael, with (Steve) Spagnuolo, with Greg McMahon, those three guys know how to run a program themselves. For me, it’s an opportunity but it is also a collaborative situation where we will all work together and solve this thing.”

Did you volunteer? Did they come to you?

“They came to me.”

Is this something you wanted to do?

“Yes. I’ve had aspirations to be a head football coach in this league. Last year, I was set to interview with the St. Louis Rams. That didn’t work out. Their coach (Jeff Fisher) took that job the day I was going to interview. I also flew up to the Indianapolis Colts and interviewed with them for the head coaching job. It has been on the radar. It didn’t work out last year, but, I think, in the near future, hopefully I can do a good job with this.”

Is this an audition to be a head coach?

“I don’t see it as an audition. I see it as a holdover. I am going to hold this thing over until Joe Vitt gets back. I am going to hold the fort. I am going to follow the program that has been set. It is important that Drew Brees feels this is Sean Payton’s program. This is the way we do things. This is the way we did it in 2009 to win the Super Bowl. This is the way we did it in 2011 to win 14 football games and we were short at the end. This is the formula that we have followed that we’ve had success with. That is my job, to make sure we are on pace with that.”